Axiom Verge

The Metroidvania genre is not defined by Metroid’s thematic elements. It exists because Metroid’s unique and unmistakable design philosophy for a 2D platformer game resonated with a bounty of prospective video game IPs. Castlevania, a peer of Metroid’s on the NES, decided to channel Metroid’s idiosyncrasies with Symphony of the Night all while maintaining its core identity as a lavish, gothic experience. Symphony’s boldness and astute understanding of Metroid’s intricate interpretation of the 2D platformer opened the floodgates for several new IPs to follow in its example, and most of the notable ones understood the homework assignment like Symphony. However, perhaps many developers attribute Metroid’s impact to its science-fiction latent alien environment and its cold, hostile atmosphere. They’re not entirely wrong, but honing in on Metroid’s thematic elements and crafting a new IP using them as a muse may result in something a bit misguided. Axiom Verge, a prominent title in the new wave of indie Metroidvania games, is a game that presents that important understanding of the Metroidvania genre’s design philosophy. However, I’ve never seen one of Metroid’s many children share such a strong genetic resemblance with one of its parents.

Evidently, Axiom Verge is an extravaganza of science fiction-oriented video game thematic properties as the game’s introduction where a fatal experimental accident occurs in a laboratory and blows the place to Kingdom Come is fairly reminiscent of Half-Life. The setting of this scene is even in New Mexico, for fucks sake. Actually, where the explosion blows our brainy protagonist, Trace, is to the odd, extraterrestrial world of Sudra where he now must contend with its abstract environment and the hostile creatures that inhabit it. Sound familiar already? Actually, besides the eerily similar setting to Metroid catalyzed by something that recalls Half-Life, the comparisons between Axiom Verge and Nintendo’s sci-fi series become alarmingly apparent through its aesthetics and general layout. If Lovecraftian is a legitimate term used to describe something akin to cosmic horror, then I propose categorizing something that resembles the artistic works of H.R. Giger as “Gigerian.” The Swiss artist who brought the Xenomorph to life for the first Alien film was a prominent artistic influence on Metroid’s fear factor and intergalactic coldness, but what happens when Axiom Verge follows up the chain of inspiration stemming from Metroid? Gigerian maximalism at its finest, even if I’m dubious if Axiom Verge is familiar with where Metroid’s iconography is rooted. Each area of Sudra is distinct from one another, but they all exhibit that sublime, industrially interstellar aesthetic. Eribu is a meaty, crimson red whose prominent foreground characteristic is these clumps of blood bubbles that regenerate when they’re popped. Zi exhibits a bevy of industrial activity juxtaposed with possibly the most vacant, dark backgrounds. Kur is an earthier realm in the eastern side of the map whose higher elevation will lead to a consistent snowstorm as the player climbs upward past all of the cryptic, primordial caves in between. The unnatural moody blue aura permeating through the night sky of Edin and Ukkin-Na are quite pleasant on the visual senses. Still, I emphasize the word unnatural to hone in on the extent of how alien everything is to a fault. Yes, I realize that an alien planet possibly existing in another dimension should look bizarre and otherworldly, but take a gander at the Elsenova machination that beckons the player toward her at the beginning of the game. If Gigerian was in the dictionary, a picture of Elsenova or her fellow Rusalki sisters would be displayed parallel to it on the page. Also, there are far too many narrow vertical sections where the formation of ascending platforms are literally crawling with insectoid enemies along the bars, which is Metroid level design 101.

At least Axiom Verge shows some restraint with its Metroid siphoning and doesn’t include a female protagonist at the helm of the adventurer role through Sudra’s alien planes. The man in question, however, doesn’t exactly exude the demeanor of an intrepid warrior like Samus Aran. I hate to be presumptuous, but Trace here gives me the impression that he’s a self-inserted character by the developers. I’d wonder which of them drew straws to implement themselves into the game, except that I can safely place the blame on Thomas Happ as Axiom Verge’s single developer a la Cave Story. Does Mr. Happ think that Trace is a badass, or is he an example of a character forced to grapple with a situation way out of his element? The latter of possibilities is plausible considering he’s an ineffectual, scientific type, but Trace consistently combats all of the crazy creatures on this planet with Joe-Schmoe stoicism as if he isn’t really affected. I think the real answer boils down to the fact that Trace has no charisma or personability. His character icon that pops up in dialogue boxes has a terrible resting bitch face and if Mario grew out sideburns like Trace has, it would be a PR disaster. Then again, progressing through Axiom Verge’s convoluted story reveals that Trace is the younger clone of the oppressive lord Athetos who rendered Sudra’s inhabitants as the malformed monsters that roam around the vicinity via the expulsion of a noxious pathogen. If Trace has the potency of a supreme dictator as another form of himself(?), then certainly the developer intended to create a badass rogue capable of grand destruction. Still, there are so many reasons why I’m not following Trace as this cool bad boy as intended. He’s perhaps one of the most indigestible gaming protagonists I’ve seen in a while.

An admirable emulation of Metroid’s formula that Axiom Verge exhibits is its sense of progression. One of the most effective aspects of Metroid was the lack of illumination of where Samus’s objectives were located, and I’m not only referring to the pitch black hole of space displayed in every background. The first Metroid game on the NES was so cryptic that not having the Nintendo Power issue with the walkthrough at every player’s side was comparable to going spelunking without a flashlight. Axiom Verge does not mimic Metroid quite to that extent, but I appreciate the fact that Axiom Verge respects the intelligence of its players. Admittedly, too many modern Metroidvania games rely on icons to signify where the main objective is located, similar to an open-world game. These titles tend to forget that the modus operandi of the Metroidvania genre is exploration, which can only be facilitated through a vague sense of direction. Axiom Verge trusts that the player should think to check every unexplored spot on the map after they acquire a new power-up, which is a core strength of the design philosophy that attracts me to the Metroidvania genre. I especially enjoy accidentally stumbling upon the spots in Axiom Verge where Trace finds himself in a “secret area” where all of the topography is twisted into what can be described as a malfunctioning simulation, and I likely wouldn’t have known these existed if my main objective was concise. One modern aspect of Axiom Verge not present in Metroid or most Metroidvania titles is that upon dying, any new upgrades and uncovered land on the map will still be retained once the Nanogates flying inside of Trace send him back to the previous save station to preserve his mortality. An argument can be made that this is an example of the modern perks of gaming making Axiom Verge too accessible, but believe that this application mitigates some punitive tedium. Axiom Verge is plenty difficult as a test of endurance between the save stations, which are located with an appropriate amount of space between them.

I’m glad that Axiom Verge incentivizes blind exploration throughout because taking any of the various paths on a whim will almost always lead to a new secret. What lies behind the obscured crevices of Sudra could be a smattering of goodies. The gadgets needed to venture further through the game are usually rewarded on the beaten path after a turning point of progression, such as the drill that cracks the grainy rock formations and the remote drone that can dig through the tightest of corridors. I’ve been told that the grapple gadget used to swing from the roof is taken from Bionic Commando instead of Metroid’s grapple beam, but I’m not that gullible. The most interesting gadget found in Axiom Verge is the “address disruptor” that subverts the matter of enemies and certain obstacles into a pixelated frenzy. On top of the eclectic mix of gadgets, the range of offensive weapons in Axiom Verge is bound to make every gun nut salivate. With diligent searching, the player can collect a whopping total of twenty different weapons that all have unique attributes. My selection that got me through most of Axiom Verge’s obstacles were a roulette of the electric shotgun Kilver, the elongated Ion Beam, and a Lightning Gun that locks onto enemies from above for a connected stream of shocking energy. One also has to appreciate using the classic flamethrower to turn the field into a burning holocaust. The impressive arsenal in Axiom Verge is a blast to experiment with, even more so than in any Metroid game.

Because Axiom Verge offers a treasure trove of unique weapons, using the most suitable one to conquer the game’s bosses is like a glorified puzzle. All of Axiom Verge’s enemies are relatively equal to Trace’s human size, but every boss is appropriately the size of a behemoth to signify its greater significance. Their general intimidation is also intensified when they scream DEMON at Trace upon mistaking him for Athetos) when he enters their domain. Because their misplaced grudge against Trace fuels their fury, none of these boss fights are sitting down to die. From the scorpion Gir-Tab, and the stinging wasp Ukhu, to the sentinel first boss Xedur, all of Axiom Verge’s bosses are not to be taken lightly. Uruku is so astronomically massive that Trace is but a bouncing flea in his arena, which makes fighting him difficult on account of not being able to see Trace at all times. However, the one boss in the game that is unfortunately underwhelming is the main man Athetos. All that Trace has to do to defeat the vile version of himself is fire upward to destroy a vulnerable tab in the ceiling around four times, and the constantly spawning droids that shoot lasers are the more formidable foes. I expected this wizened ghoul to burst from his cryogenic fluid chamber into something awesomely beastly for a second phase and was disappointed that the game’s final boss simply amounted to the extent of the first one and nothing more.

Axiom Verge, or “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Metroid!” excels in understanding why Metroid’s gameplay and mechanics are effective. As far as a Metroidvania experience is concerned, Axiom Verge is a well-oiled machine. The extensive array of gameplay pertaining to its level design, fair difficulty, its gadgets and weapons, and challenging bosses are more than enough to entice anyone who is a fan of the genre. However, all of the meritorious aspects of Axiom Verge are all packaged in what appears to be a clear Metroid homage, judging from its uncanny artistic and thematic choices alone. Axiom Verge’s lack of discernible identity, unfortunately, leaves the whole experience as coming into one ear and immediately out of the other. All of its thematic and narrative elements amount to making the entire experience somewhat forgettable. It’s a shame considering the labor of love that was put into its gameplay attributes. A clearer vision would’ve drastically aided Axiom Verge.

This game is good and challenging. It plays a lot like Metroid but with more emphasis on shooting shit, with a lot of weapons to find. Unlike Super Metroid there's a fair amount of dialogue and notes to find around that dump lore on you, but the story's interesting enough to keep this not boring, if a bit forgettable. Even the best ending doesn't offer much resolution though.

The graphics are great. They're in a nexus between 8-bit and 16-bit, a compromise that I usually find boring in "retro" looking indie titles, but it's executed very well here. The game excellently uses shading and limited palettes intentionally to convey atmosphere in a way that manages to balance retro simplicity with artistic intricacy. The music is awesome too, managing to be upbeat and memorable while conveying a dark sci-fi tone. Again, with the instruments used (as well as the sound effects) we have a mix between old and new flavors. It works well.

The gameplay is good if you like Super Metroid and its ilk. The special gimmick here is that the main character can "warp reality" by creating and exploiting "glitches", which is a really neat idea. You don't really do much with it beyond destroying some corrupted areas and glitch-teleporting around, though the "glitch bomb" weapon and being able to corrupt enemies is very cool. I hope this game gets a sequel which further fleshes out the "reality glitch" concept.

While this is a well put together game, the exploration aspect is sometimes quite tedious, and of course the exploration is most of what you do in this game, so this is a problem. Super Metroid, a game this takes a ton of inspiration from, generally has constrained, tight areas to explore. This game's areas are more wide open, making it a little closer to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the other half of the "Metroidvania" genre namesake. I prefer Super Metroid's tighter map design to Symphony of the Night's sometimes giant rooms, and this game's big open areas are a great example of why because they can really be a slog to get around when trying to each somewhere else. And unlike Symphony of the Night, there's no fast travel! That would've made backtracking a lot less annoying.

Then again, you're encouraged to backtrack to explore old places with your abilities, a classic Metroidvania trope. But honestly, the environments just weren't compelling enough for me to want to go around and find everything. The punishment for not doing that is that the last couple areas can be a real bitch to get through if you don't have all the health+defense upgrades, or the flamethrower weapon.

The moments of aggravation when I discovered I had to slog allll the way back through an area because the way I thought I was supposed to be going wasn't quite it added up to a fair bit of frustration, as did the occasionally very challenging enemy setups. Again, the rooms are quite big, so they take some time to get back through, even when you get the cool glitch teleport move (which also doubles as a damaging attack after an upgrade...what a badass ability). Symphony of the Night's big hallways were more fun to fight through thanks to that game's varied, snappy, and overall immensely satisfying combat system. Blasting shit away again in this game gets old at times, because the enemies seem to take a few too many hits, which to be fair might be because I couldn't be assed to find more weapon damage upgrades.

One thing that does help add some fun to shooting shit is the variety in guns, which is very cool. At least one gun, the Voranj, mostly eliminates the issue of only being able to aim in 8 directions (which can become annoying as the enemies can move whichever directions the want, it honestly would've been nice to be able to aim with analog-stick degree of movement instead of being locked to D-pad movement), though its power is lacking compared to other weapons. Some of the other guns are cool too, like the Inertial Pulse, which shoots through walls, and the Nova bombs, which feel immensely satisfying when you time the detonation just right to maximize damage.

Two other abilities worth mentioning are the drill and the drone. The drill was really fun at first, and I did like killing enemies with it (the way it interacts with analog triggers is also a nice tough), but unfortunately its use is rather limited. It seemed to barely work anywhere after the section where I got it, so I was disappointed with it overall. The drone is great, especially once you get the Drone Teleport ability, but I found myself begging to be able to cling to walls and ceilings while using the drone, and I also never could find a way to upgrade the drone's attack. As far as I'm aware, no such thing exists in the game. More to jot down for a sequel!

Some issues and missed opportunities aside, including occasional frustration and an underwhelming finale, this is a great game. With a little more put into it, it could've been a masterpiece, but as-is it's a solid experience and a cool, creative take on the Metroidvania concept with excellent presentation.

Axiom Verge is a game I was interested in when I first heard about it, and I previously played Super Metroid along with Fusion and Zero Mission so hearing this game was in the same spirit as those games really got me excited. I eventually bought this full price and well, in ways it improves on Metroid. This game has a large map with variety in areas and enemies, tons of bosses, a good soundtrack, and the 2D graphics look nice. But at the same time, I just didn't find this super memorable at the same times, I said there's a lot of bosses but half them I think are forgettable, there are a ton of weapons to choose from but only 5 or 6 are really useful, and the big map can be a bit annoying to transverse at times. I mean considering this was made by one guy, this is actually really damn impressive, but I don't think its anything above a decent Metroidvania game that is probably one notch lower than all the 2D Metroid games.

A pure metroidvania set in a sci-fi world. Its short of having metroid on its title, but honestly since i have only played a few hours of super metroid, i wasnt too bothered by the comparisons. And even then, i still feel that the game does some new stuff in terms of the creativity in the design of the weapons, the hidden secrets and overal level design, the transversal options and the story.

The bosses are a bit weak, and i was lost a few too many times but im most likely the one at fault. Really great gameplay as well, with very different enemies that force you to change your weapon in order to have an easier time with dealing with them.

I must also mention the incredibly alien ambient/techno soundtrack. Some of the tracks increase the overal atmosphere of the game tenfold, and overal the game wouldnt be nearly as good without it.

As a metroidvania it might be better than Ori, even if i think Ori is still the best game overal. One of my favourites of the year.

As many of you avid gamers have noted, 2015 was a great year for platformers. Axiom Verge stands equally among those I’ve already mentioned, yet is nothing like them. Think Contra meets Metroid, and you’ve got a rough picture of what Axiom Verge offers. But, it’s in those fine details where we see some true gold. Now, we all know those original games that inspired Axiom were full of glitches, some of which let players exploit the game. Axiom Verge takes these historical coding cracks and makes them a game mechanic. I kid you not, glitches become an ever-lovin’ game mechanic. You can use these corruptions to manipulate enemies as well as the environment, making for a true gaming experience in which you are encouraged to, well, play! Axiom Verge may not have been my favourite platformer of 2015, but it is fantastic and surely deserves more players to explore its depths.